Indian 640 Canadian

[rob love]

Thanks for the posts and links. When I hit the photos though, they take me to the G503 website where I need a password to view your album.

I saved the photos to my computer and they expand reasonably well. I also already have saved the photo from Gerry Greer's site as it was the closest I could find to what I have here. There seems to be a variation to the two upper shackle bolts on this bike. Rather than a bolt, this one has a long rod that is threaded for a short bit on one end, and a longer length on the other end, which will be for the one threaded shackle. I made the jam nuts, but I guess my main query was on the size and quantity of spacers and or thrust washers. I see there are no thrust washers used, but two spacers at the rear upper shackle bolt (or rod in my case).

Or does it? Your parts diagram shows item #34 (pn 42616) spacer as being on the forward bolt, but then lists it as belonging to the lower link. Because the manual does not offer the quantity used per equipment, it is hard to determine if the bike just uses two or 4 of these.

I am certainly closer to assembling this correctly than I was before, so thank you.

The bike had been disassembled by a well meaning volunteer a couple of years ago, who left before completing the job. Since then, the bike went to the base workshop, where it also sat for a long time before we finally retrieved it back. So in it's journeys a few parts seem to have been waylaid.

Unfortunately, this is too common in the museum. I have about a dozen vehicles which have been left in various states of partial disrepair. The parts then seem to move with the tide to various other parts of the building, or put into boxes or containers and join the thousands of other boxes and containers on shelves and corners. At times, the job seems more like a game show where you see a letter turn over, and have to remember where you saw the other one just like it. Fortunately I am pretty good at that game.

[David Dunlop]

Any known history on the bike, Rob? Service vehicle from Shilo, donation, etc.?

David

[rob love]

It was one from the Bill Gregg collection. It has a DND number on it, but it is unknown if the number was correct for the vehicle. The DND number indicates an acceptance year of 1942, so it is hard to say if this is correct. Of the few Canadian photos I have seen, 41 seems to be more the norm.

[welbike]

Rob, since my bike is still in a thousand bits, I have no idea how many washers go there, but if you call my good friend Robin Markey from Bob's Indians in Etters PA, I'm sure he can tell you off the top of his head, and they sell parts too.

http://www.bobsindian.com/

Tell him I sent you! (ask for Robin in any case)

He has what must be the most photographed 640 in the world, if you google Indian 640, you will see all kinds of sdtuff with his bike on it!!

Below it is, some years ago, for a change he's on the back, and I'm riding it.

Cheers,

Lex

[rob love]

Lex
Between your scans and the scans on Jerry Greer's site, I think I have it. His site is especially valuable since he gives a lot of dimensions of each part as well. My two "rods" may have just been a production convenience. Far easier (and cheaper) to make a long rod threaded on the ends than to make a long hex headed bolt.

I see he has a reprint of the manual for the 640 with serial numbers just ending before the Canadian numbers. I'll get that ordered this week.

[Stew Robertson]

Rob
this bike when found had the same markings and was put back together as found
there is some cobbled parts in the distributor as we could not find originals as it was done before the internet and all this excess info was out there
I have no original pictures but here is one before Shilo and one at the Crearar
ceremony

CANERA 156.jpg CANERA 160.jpg

[rob love]

Stewart
As always, thanks very much for the photos and especially for the information.

I wouldn't say that there is an excess of information out there, but at the same time it is certainly many thousand times quicker than the old days of writing letters, or waiting until 2 in the morning to make very expensive phone calls to other parts of the globe. How far we have come.

Aside from re-assembling it and locating the missing parts, the only other changes envisioned at this time are to install a sidecar fender lamp (if applicable....still waiting for more data), adding the arm rests to the sides of the sidecar, and possibly a new floor in the sidecar. The thin metal there is really starting to show it's age. Perhaps those who have climbed into it in the past decade or two tend to be a bit heavier than the builders intended back in the 1940s.

The bike is missing the speedometer and the cover over the instruments, however I note that the speedometer alone is well over $1200 Cdn these days, so we'll possibly have to wait until a funding surplus presents itself.

After seeing the drawings on the Jerry Greer site, I have to check the chain length to the generator. I note the present cover over it does not allow the generator to tighten up fully, and the chain has worn into the driving end housing. It would appear that the cover may be incorrect, as it does not seem to mount the same way as the ones illustrated on his site. I'll see of the present cover has the right dimensions.

I like to keep about 3 projects going at once so I can make better determinations as to what is correct, rather than plowing full steam ahead on one project and wasting efforts towards incorrect restoration. Hopefully by the spring I can report here that the bike is "back in service".